


After That Night

by kuhleesi



Category: Bonepickers (Karanduun), Karanduun (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, I cannot believe I'm writing soft Reyna, Soft Kisses, next time na ang smut, sad fic onli
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:14:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27058567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuhleesi/pseuds/kuhleesi
Summary: Reyna visits Jiro to say sorry.
Relationships: Jiro/Reyna
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	After That Night

**Author's Note:**

> I listened to the song Softens by Wet while writing this so there we go.

Too little. 

That’s how much time they had known each other, Jiro and Reyna. And yet, ever since they did, things just got more and more interesting, for better or worse. They met while running from the Guardia Civil. They last saw each other after fighting the Guardia Civil. It was as if tadhana liked to toy with them, and yet never let them get to know each other.

Too much.

That was what they both lost that day, Jiro and Reyna. There were parts of them that were taken that they couldn’t get back. It was as if they had both plunged headfirst into an icy lake in the middle of the night and now they were both swimming blind, trying to navigate a world that was suddenly unfamiliar to them both.

So, when Reyna came knocking on his door in the middle of the night, it wasn’t entirely a surprise to Jiro. He knew she would come. Perhaps even expected it.

“Hey.” She said in greeting when he opened his door for her, as if her visiting at 2AM was the most normal thing. 

“Couldn’t sleep?” He asked. Reyna knew Jiro’s voice. It used to sound like he was always saying a joke only the two of them knew about. Now, there was no hint of amusement beneath his tone. He just sounded tired.

She shook her head. He stepped aside, opening the door wider for her to go through, and she was back in the same small apartment that he stayed in. It was dim, with the windows closed and only one source of light from a desk lamp. If the wardrobe that used to contain Tenshi’s clothes was open and empty, she didn’t point it out.

“Your footsteps have gotten heavier.” He said to her as greeting, closing the door behind her.

“Careful what you imply, pretty boy. I’m sure my footsteps are fine.” Reyna said, placing her hands on her hips. Jiro was surprised to find hurt on her face when he said it. She was usually tougher than that.

Reyna hadn’t looked him in the eye until that point. To be honest, she had been afraid to. And when she did, she knew she couldn’t keep the guilt off her face. His warm, brown eyes were puffy, most likely from grieving over the death of his student. She couldn’t imagine him alone in this small apartment by himself, left alone to his own thoughts with only the silence to comfort him.

“Jiro, I’m so sorry. I never wanted Tenshi to die, not because of us. I'm sorry.” She managed to say. He hung his head, hands also on his hips, and remained silent.

They stayed that way, standing just a couple of feet away from each other. If Reyna was still a vampire, she would be able to see through the shadows better. She’d be able to see Jiro struggling to keep his composure.

“Please talk to me.” She said after a moment, taking a step closer. That’s when she saw the shaking of his shoulders.

He was crying.

She closed the gap between them and gently pulled him close, giving him time to pull away if he wanted to. He didn’t. 

Instead, he let out the most heart-wrenching sob, and he nestled his face in her neck. Reyna held on tight, her own eyes burning with tears she was trying to fight back herself. She couldn’t imagine losing someone so dear to her like that. If it had been her brother, or Talim, she wouldn’t know what to do with herself. Now, all she could do was hold Jiro, as if that would keep the broken pieces in him from falling apart.

He didn’t speak, but Jiro’s arms around her held on tight, as if he was afraid that if he let go, Reyna would disappear and there would be nothing left for his sanity to cling to. His chest hurt, his body hurt, his eyes felt like they were on fire. But it was this, the softness of her body and the warmth of her breath on his neck and the scent of her skin that he held on to.

It used to be Tenshi and him. Now, it was just him. And he would have to move on. He had to. That was the life of a Sitan Hunter. You fight, you hope not to die, but when you do, you know that’s what you signed up for anyway and just hope you go down with dignity.

But God, is it hard when he couldn’t stop blaming himself for her death. If he had just arrived a minute earlier, he might have been able to save her. She trusted him to have her back and when she needed him most, he wasn’t there.

“She trusted me and I—”

“She didn’t blame you. Not for a second, so don’t you dare blame yourself.” She said, her fingers gently running through his hair to try and soothe him.

Having a pleasant sensation to focus on did help, and when he felt he had control of himself, he pulled away. Reyna’s hands cupped his cheeks, and her thumbs brushed away his tears.

“Have you slept at all?” She asked.

“No. I was—I had to bury her.” He sighed, his voice thick. “I was the only one there. I couldn’t rest after that.”

Reyna winced, and made a note to tell the other Bonepickers to pay their respects to Tenshi, who by all means, had saved her and Talim’s life, and by extension _their_ life. They owed her that much.

“Can we visit her tomorrow?” She asked. He nodded.

“Alright. Come on.”

She took his hands and walked backwards, leading him towards his bed.

“You know, when I imagined leading you to bed, this was not what I had in mind.” Reyna said, and a ghost of a smile appeared on Jiro’s face.

“You imagined leading me to bed?”

“Shut up and go to sleep.”

She let go of his hands only to fix his bed, propping up the pillows and tucking the sheets back in. When Reyna was about to pick up his blanket, his hand went on top of hers, and she froze.

Jiro pulled her hand up and, to Reyna’s surprise, his lips brushed gently against her wrist.

“Your hand is warm.” He said.

She snatched her hand back.

“And?”

There was the hurt look on her face again. She didn’t want to acknowledge what they both knew.

She wasn’t this warm when they first met. He would remember. He _did_ remember. She used to have silver eyes. She used to have pointy ears. Supernatural indicators of her being a predator that could see and hear better than her prey. When he had leaned close to her in the alley, it was as if he was leaning towards a mannequin, and when their skin touched, she was cold. Lifeless. Now, her eyes were a duller grey, and he felt her pulse beneath his lips.

“What happened in the Cathedral?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She mumbled, turning back to the bed and smoothing out the non-existent wrinkles on his sheet.

“Reyna. Talk to me.”

“I’m not a vampire anymore! Okay?! It’s gone, I’m just a human again. It’s gone.” The last words came out as a frustrated whisper as she whipped around to face him, and he could see her eyes brimming with tears now.

She blinked them away. It felt wrong that she was crying over something so… petty. Compared to what Jiro had lost, what was she to be sad about? That she was still alive? Or alive _again_ as the case may be. It would be insulting to him, who had just had to bury someone he cared about.

“Please. Just—I only came here so I can apologize. If it wasn’t for us, Tenshi would still be alive. You wouldn’t have had to go to the river. You wouldn’t have had to go through all of this.”

She wasn’t good with words. Not when it came to things like this. Apologies, comfort, empathy. They were an alien language to her. Unfamiliar territory. This was Pawikani’s forte, not hers. But she tried anyway, with what stumbling, unsure words she had.

“It wasn’t your fault.” Jiro said, approaching her as she shook her head to try and argue.

“Jiro, you don’t have to try to make me feel better about it.”

“She was _my_ responsibility, not yours. If there was anyone to blame, it’s me. I failed her.”

It felt like the words were being wrenched out of him. He had not said those words out loud before, certainly not to someone else.

“You did what you could.” She whispered. “You were trying to protect all of us. You couldn’t have been in two places at once.” 

He sighed, a long, tired breath coming out of him as he dragged his hand down his face, and stopped to cover his mouth. “I wish it was that easy to accept. I was careless. Too cocky.” He said, his voice muffled by his hand over his mouth, as his hand went up to rub his tired eyes.

“Come on.” She said, taking his hand away from his face and leading him to the bed, guiding him down before laying the blanket on him.

“I’ll turn the light off.” She said, when she was satisfied that he had settled down. She crossed the room and turned off the desk light, and the room was filled with darkness. She hated that she couldn’t get used to it, not being able to see in the dark.

“Reyna.” He said, when she started to go towards the door. “Stay.”

Part of her, the part that felt guilty that her coming into his life brought such misfortune to him, wanted to run as far as possible so he won’t have to see her again, so he won’t be reminded by what he lost.

But another part, the part that wanted to hold him, to comfort him, to be there for him, ultimately won.

 _Reyna, you selfish asshole._ She berated herself. But her body was already moving towards the bed again.

She sat on the bed, on the space he had left, and her back was turned to him while she slowly took the laces off her boots.

Jiro kept quiet the entire time, not bothering her. He could tell that she was hesitant, guilty even. His heart ached when she buried her face in her hands, her elbows on her thighs, and she let out a quiet sob. He could hear her sniffling.

She lost something in the Cathedral, as well. They were both regretting what they lost that night. Jiro inched towards her, putting a hand on her arm to get her to face him. Reyna didn’t resist. She was so tired, now. And here, in the silence of the night, in the safety of the darkness that embraced both of them, she let her guard down, as did he.

He brushed her hair away from her face, and kissed her forehead, the tears that clung to her eyes, the tip of her nose, the tear tracks on her cheeks.

“Talk to me.” He said, pulling her beside him.

She settled under the blankets, with his arm as her pillow. His hand was brushing through her hair, and her body was facing him. She laid her hand on his chest.

“I used to be able to hear someone’s pulse. I used to smell their blood.” She said. “Now, I can barely feel your heartbeat.”

Reyna pressed her body closer to his, “I used to not feel cold, too. God, I used to be powerful. Unstoppable. Now, I feel useless.”

“Welcome back to humanity.”

“Thanks, I hate it.”

He let out a chuckle, and the sound filled the room.

“But seriously. Being human is a good thing. You may not be able to see in the dark as clearly as before, but your eyes will learn to adjust. You may not be able to hear everything but all you have to do is get a little bit closer. Don’t you miss feeling the wind on your skin?”

“I could feel the wind just fine as a vampire.”

“No, but could you _feel_ it? Feel it in your bones if the cold bites too hard? You may not be a powerful predator anymore, but don’t you miss being human? Breathing, savoring every good meal?”

“When I was human, all I could feel was that I wasn’t enough. I would tire, my body would ache. I died protecting my brother. It was because I was human that I wasn’t able to do that properly.”

Jiro’s fingers stopped brushing through her hair.

He was quiet for a while.

“I get it. More than you know.”

“No, I know.”

He of all people would know what it feels like. To try so hard but still not be enough to save someone you love.

“Well, at least your brother is still alive.” Jiro sighed, and she raised her head up to look at his profile. He was looking up at the ceiling, and she could almost hear his thoughts consuming him again.

“Hey.” She said, her hand cupping his face again so he can look at her.

“Tenshi said… Her last words to me…. She wanted me to ask you if you were proud of her.”

His heart constricted painfully, as if someone had just reached through his ribs and squeezed.

“More than I ever told her.” Jiro whispered, “I wish I told her all the time that she was the better person between the two of us. I wish I could give her more than a burial with no mourners. Tenshi deserved so much more than that.”

Reyna hugged him tighter, and he turned his body to face her as well.

"She and Pawikani would have gotten along well."

"She gets along well with anyone. She was always so... honest. Thoughtful. Full of life." His heart ached just at the thought of his student.

"I wish I would have gotten to know her better. She sounds like a great person."

“She was. And the best way for us to honor her sacrifice is by embracing life the way she would have.” He said, his fingers now gliding up and down her arm, slowly, comfortingly.

“I’ll try. For her.” She replied, “Tomorrow, though.”

He gave her a sad smile, his eyes half-lidded. She wanted to tell him she missed seeing that dimple on his cheek. Instead, she kissed the corner of his mouth, then his neck, breathing in his scent—he smelled clean, like fresh laundry. She kissed his jaw.

His lips.

Softly.

Slowly.

This wasn’t what Reyna was used to. Soft and slow was not how she did things. But she kissed him like that, anyway. Jiro sighed when their lips parted before he leaned into her again. Their kisses were gentle. 

Reyna had imagined that if anything would have happened between them, that they would be ripping each other’s clothes off. Instead, each kiss was like a conversation.

_I’m here for you._

_You’re not alone._

_Sleep. I’ll be here._

_Sleep. I’ll hold you._

And sleep, they did. Tangled in each other’s arms, blanket keeping both of their bodies warm, glad to have someone to share the load with.

**Author's Note:**

> i only feel pain


End file.
